Developments in medicine have enabled the use of many non-classical surgical techniques in the treatment of diseases and disorders. For example, significant advances in implantable medical devices have enabled a host of new treatment options for patients. Early implantable medical devices were limited to surgical grade metals and were primarily used for gross mechanical repairs such as bone securement or replacement. However, in the last three decades, implantation of temporary or permanent structural and functioning elements has become commonplace, and such devices have become more intricate and complex in their structure and function.
The surfaces of implantable medical devices are of particular interest for a variety of reasons. Medical device surfaces represent the interface between the device material and the body fluid or tissue, and surface properties of the device can have a significant effect on how the device functions in the body. In many cases the device can provide a surface having one or more properties selected from lubricity and wettability, passivity against protein absorption, antimicrobial properties, drug delivery, biocompatibility, and hemocompatibility. Biocompatible polymers have been used to prepare polymeric matrices formed on the surface of the device (e.g., in the form of a coating) that have one or more of these properties.
The demand for medical articles having these types of coatings has appreciated because they generally improve the function of the device upon implantation or insertion in the body. For example, a lubricious polymeric coating can reduce frictional forces when the device is introduced and moved within the body. Various catheter types are examples of medical articles that may be provided with hydrophilic coatings.
Detection of a part, or all, of the medical device surface can be useful in manufacturing. For example, detection can allow one to understand the thickness of the coating and the uniformity and completeness of coating coverage on the device.
However, one problem is that many coatings applied to an implantable medical device are transparent and otherwise difficult to detect. And although reagents such as colorants and dyes are available, there are challenges regarding using such reagents to provide modified surfaces, such as in the form of coatings, that have one or more properties such as durability, biocompatibility, while preventing the compound from being lost from the surface, such as by leaching.
Further, detection reagents may not be biocompatible, may not be compatible with the material surface or polymeric material used to form a coating on the surface, may not immobilize properly on the surface or have a propensity to be lost or leached from a coating, or may not have properties useful for detection after immobilized on the surface. Detectable reagents such as radioisotopes or paramagnetic material may not be desirable for use in the body or may require elaborate equipment for their detection.
The inventors have prepared new and inventive compounds capable of being immobilized on a surface and visualized by fluorescence. The compounds are useful for preparing modified surfaces of medical devices, but can also be used for preparing visualizable surfaces outside of the medical device area.